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Knotty pine is a straight-grained wood of medium texture that is characterized by its pale yellow to reddish-brown color. Its distinctive dark knots add visual interest to this otherwise pale wood, which makes beautiful cabinets that serve to warm up your space. Matching wood floors to knotty pine cabinets is not difficult, as long as you know what look and feel you hope to achieve.

Color Tones and Wood Grain

When matching your wood floor to your knotty pine cabinets, it’s not so much the color that should match, but the grain and tones within the wood. A medium-toned floor that is within the same color family as the cabinets, with honey or golden tones will blend with the cabinets. Knotty pine has a busy, distinctive grain pattern that you don’t want the floor grain to compete with. For this reason, you should choose a wood floor with a more subtle grain, such as maple or birch. Light colored woods with strong grain patterns, like oak or hickory, will compete with the cabinets and may be overwhelming. If you choose an oak floor that is stained a dark color, however, the grain is not as noticeable and therefore it might work well with the cabinets. As long as there are tones in both woods that are close in color, the cabinets will harmonize with the floor.

Contemporary or Traditional

The color of wood flooring you choose really depends on your tastes and the overall effect you hope to achieve. For an airy or contemporary look, choose a floor with a finish that is slightly lighter in color than your knotty pine cabinets. For a cozy, traditional feel, go with a dark or neutral hardwood like black cherry or hickory. Take into consideration the other design elements of your room. If the appliances and wall color are light, a dark floor with a subtle grain will ground the room and add definition to a large kitchen space. If the room is small, with darker appliances or walls, a lighter floor will brighten it up and make it feel larger.

Complement Instead of Matching

The trick to matching any wood floor with wood cabinetry is to complement, rather than trying to get an exact match. Knotty pine cabinets with a knotty pine floor would be overwhelming, as would a floor with a similarly distinctive grain in the same color as your cabinets. Instead, choose a wood floor that picks up on the dark knots of the pine in the cabinets, or choose one that matches the deep golden grain of the knotty pine. There should be some color distinction between your cabinets and your floors so that it doesn't feel as though the floor is climbing up the walls.

Compare Before You Decide

Flooring showrooms offer samples of their wood flooring which you can take home so that you can view them in the actual light of your space. Borrow at least six samples with some that are close to the cabinet color, as well as darker and lighter. Move the pieces around the room, along different walls to see if the wood’s look changes in different light. Compare the samples to both the color and the grain of your knotty pine cabinets. View the samples in both natural and artificial light and select a handful that appeal to you.

About the Author

Renee Miller began writing professionally in 2008, contributing to websites and the "Community Press" newspaper. She is co-founder of On Fiction Writing, a website for writers. Miller holds a diploma in social services from Clarke College in Belleville, Ontario.